I have been asked to test service pack 1 for ArcMap 10.1 before it is provided to other users at my university. Are there any key things I should do for any SP test, or should I try to look at things that have specifically been addressed in this SP?

My plan was to create a new .mxd file and run a few basic geoprocessing commands. Realistically I'm not going to able to check everything, but are there other key things I should do?

6 Answers
6

I would suggest testing those things that most of your users may use. The service pack Issues Addressed page is grouped by application theme (e.g. ArcGIS for Desktop, ArcGIS for Server...etc) to help you test against.

As artwor21 suggests. Find some users from different areas. Ask for some ideas of normal tasks and processes they perform. Especially any third party software used.
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Brad NesomJan 29 '13 at 2:55

This answer and comment have made me think about the type of information I should be collecting from our users. I don't currently have details of specific issues users have had, so my main concern was that installation of the SP might have unintended consequences (is that likely?). I ran through a few basic geoprocessing commands, ran a couple of python scripts using shps and gdbs, and used Spatial Ecology's GME, as these are the sorts of things people seem to do here.
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Flo HarrisonJan 30 '13 at 11:15

One major update with ArcGIS 10 SP1 is 64-Bit Background Geoprocessing, available as a separate download here. There are major implications for any organization that process big-data:

This 64-bit installation (which requires a 64-bit operating system)
will replace your current background processing. All scripts, models
and tools which execute in the background will use a 64-bit process.
Your biggest benefit when using 64-bit Background processing is that
using 64-bit applications allow your large processes to take advantage
of more memory (if available) than when using a 32-bit application.

I think you will find a lot of interest in this new feature and it would be easy to incorporate this into a presentation. I've personally had great success using 64-bit background geoprocessing on memory expansive operations such as Integrate, where 32-bit processing had previously failed.

One thing not mentioned already is that if you kept a record of outstanding bugs (and enhancements) that your users have been affected by (or were looking for) in 10.1 (and earlier releases), then that list is what I would recommend testing first.